It's that season again. In Illinois and across the Midwest from Wisconsin and int Texas and Colorado, spring and early summer usher in potentially dangerous weather. While the news usually reports major weather events that end in bodily hard and epic destruction, often times damage on a smaller level is over looked. In no case is this more prevalent than in wind and hail situations.

​Hail is a kind of strong precipitation where frozen rain forms into layered pellets and falls in showers from cumulonimbus clouds. The specific balls or irregular swellings of ice produced are referred to as hailstones. Although ice is usually associated with cold temperatures, that is not real for the formation of hail. Hail is possible within two nautical miles of the center of any thunderstorm--making the destructive range very large.
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Hail damage is a deceptive and serious danger to property owners throughout the United States and abroad, triggering in excess of
$1 billion in damages to property and crops each year. Even the tiniest hail can cause damage to young plantings. To rub salt in the wound, hailstones fall at greater speeds as they grow in size; some can fall as fast as 100 mph and include contaminant.

If you reside in a location susceptible to serious weather and have a low slope or flat roofing system with asphalt shingles, you are in the high threat for hail damage classification. The good news is that a lot of business and specific house owner's policies cover hail damage.

As far as the United States is concerned, hail is most common where Colorado, Nebraska and Wyoming meet; a location coined Hail Street. Cheyenne, Wyoming ranks as the number one most vulnerable city in the United States for a hailstorm.
Hail falls many times each year, and has genuine capacity to trigger extreme damage. Airplane, automobiles, crops, physical property, and so on are all susceptible to hail; badly denting, shattering and conceivably even destroying properties.

Among the most substantial hail claims arise from roofing system damage. Roof insurance claims require a lot of knowledge about roofing system construction and history of the roofing in concern. It often leads to litigation because Insurance companies such as State Farm, All State, and Nationwide have thousands of roaming adjusters who are programmed to build cases for the companies to deny claims.

If you or your roofing expert or contractor determines what is necessary to fix the damage from a hail storm, then you should be very apprehensive when an "independent" adjuster for the insurance company determines that the damage is actually less. It is at this point when you should contact an experienced attorney, and we are here to help.

Ryan Bradley

Ryan is a partner at Koester & Bradley and handles the firms property damage claims. He is always available to talk, and consultations are free.

This website will provide you with basic information regarding personal injury and other types of legal claims.However, please note the contents of the site are not a substitute for personal legal advice.